Research Catalog

Title

Improving the U.S. Military's understanding of unstable environments vulnerable to violent extremist groups : insights from social science / David E. Thaler, Ryan Andrew Brown, Gabriella C. Gonzalez, Blake W. Mobley, Parisa Roshan.

Author

Thaler, David E.

Publication

Santa Monica, CA : RAND, [2013]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xix, 96 pages : color illustrations; 28 cm

Summary

Over the previous decade, operations associated with irregular warfare have placed large demands on U.S. ground forces and have led to development of new Army and Joint doctrine. This report helps analysts identify and assess key factors that create and perpetuate environments susceptible to insurgency, terrorism, and other extremist violence and instability to inform military decisions on allocation of analytic and security assistance resources. The report focuses in particular on sources of understanding about these environments from the fields of sociology and cultural anthropology. RAND researchers surveyed existing sociological and anthropological theories and schools of thought and identified 12 key factors that give rise to and sustain unstable environments. The research found a relatively high degree of consensus among experts regarding the salience of these factors. The factors are interrelated and mutually dependent in complex ways. The report proposes a series of qualitative and quantitative metrics for each of the 12 factors and uses them in an analytic construct for assessing countries and regions based on their susceptibility to unstable environments.

Alternative Title

Improving the United States Military's understanding of unstable environments vulnerable to violent extremist groups

Subject

• Irregular warfare > United States
• Military doctrine > United States
• Social sciences > Research > United States
• Insurgency
• Terrorism > Prevention
• Political violence

Note

• "Prepared for the United States Army."
• "RR-298-A"--Page 4 of cover.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-96).

Contents

Introduction -- Gaining Insights into Unstable, Conflict-Prone Environments Through Social Science Lenses -- Factors Associated with Environments Vulnerable to Conflict -- Relationships Among Factors: Peru and Nepal Case Studies -- Utilizing the Factors for Analysis -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Factors from Joint and Army Doctrine -- Appendix A: Factor Matrix -- Appendix C: Cross-Matching 12 Factors with RAND Case Studies on 30 Counterinsurgencies.

Call Number

JFF 17-266

ISBN

• 9780833081643
• 0833081640

LCCN

2013049319

OCLC

865452280

Author

Thaler, David E., author.

Title

Improving the U.S. Military's understanding of unstable environments vulnerable to violent extremist groups : insights from social science / David E. Thaler, Ryan Andrew Brown, Gabriella C. Gonzalez, Blake W. Mobley, Parisa Roshan.

Publisher

Santa Monica, CA : RAND, [2013]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-96).

Connect to:

Electronic Version: Publisher's web page for this work, including abstract, table of contents, and link to scanned depiction of full text:

Other Form:

Online version: Thaler, David E. Improving the U.S. military's understanding of unstable environments vulnerable to violent extremist groups. Santa Monica, CA : RAND, [2013] 9780833084217 (DLC) 2013049801

Report No.

RAND/RR-298-A

Research Call Number

JFF 17-266